Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2014 - Page 27

Under Construction
M
etro was introduced to the Helsinki
Metropolitan Region in 1982 which
was the year the original metroline started operations. Running from west
to east, the line has been expanded many
times since.
The extension of the metroline to Espoo has been on the table from the very beginning, and the development of the public
transport system from Helsinki to the west
has been studied on numerous occasions
over the years. Still, nothing happened for
a quarter of a century.
Finally, the project planning for the
west metro was launched in 2007 and completed in 2008. The Espoo City Council ap-
proved the proposal for the underground city
plan enabling construction in January 2009
and Helsinki decided on the underground
plan in November 2009.
Construction of the west metro began
in Ruoholahti in November 2009, where a
metro plan extending from Ruoholahti to
Salmisaari shore already existed. An existing maintenance tunnel in Ruoholahti was
used for excavation towards Salmisaari.
Excavation work began in Espoo and
in Lauttasaari in Helsinki in the summer
2010. The excavation was concluded in late
2013, and the focus has shifted to the building of the stations and the laying of the track.
Testing of the system will take place in 2014
Finnoo will become a sustainable,
green maritime city of international
standard.
and the west metro will open for traffic at
the end of 2015.
The end of the line in the present scenario is Matinkylä, but the City of Espoo is
hoping to continue westward and add five
extra stations. The first of these, Finnoo,
could be realised even if the additional construction never takes place.
The metroline is likely to grow in the
east as well. The City of Helsinki has been
planning to extend the eastern metroline all
the way to the neighbouring municipality of
Sipoo. This project could conceivably take
place right after the western project is complete.
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